Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative StudyCambridge University Press, 5 maj 2003 This book offers the first detailed comparative study of the seven best-documented early civilizations: ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, Shang China, the Aztecs and adjacent peoples in the Valley of Mexico, the Classic Maya, the Inka, and the Yoruba. Unlike previous studies, equal attention is paid to similarities and differences in their sociopolitical organization, economic systems, religion, and culture. Many of this study's findings are surprising and provocative. Agricultural systems, technologies, and economic behaviour turn out to have been far more diverse than was expected. These findings and many others challenge not only current understandings of early civilizations but also the theoretical foundations of modern archaeology and anthropology. The key to understanding early civilizations lies not in their historical connections but in what they can tell us about similarities and differences in human behaviour. |
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Sida 7
... associated with their economic institutions. They also assume that more cross-cultural diversity will be found in social and political institutions, because these institutions are less directly constrained by environment and technology ...
... associated with their economic institutions. They also assume that more cross-cultural diversity will be found in social and political institutions, because these institutions are less directly constrained by environment and technology ...
Sida 18
... associated with the search for positive correlations that accord with a rationalist outlook. This sort of cross-cultural approach was especially attractive to the American archaeologists who adopted a more behaviourist and ...
... associated with the search for positive correlations that accord with a rationalist outlook. This sort of cross-cultural approach was especially attractive to the American archaeologists who adopted a more behaviourist and ...
Sida 28
... associated with any other. The Akkadian language spoken in Mesopotamia belonged, as did other Semitic languages, to the same Afroasiatic language family as ancient Egyptian, but Sumerian, the other main language of southern Mesopotamia ...
... associated with any other. The Akkadian language spoken in Mesopotamia belonged, as did other Semitic languages, to the same Afroasiatic language family as ancient Egyptian, but Sumerian, the other main language of southern Mesopotamia ...
Sida 36
... associated with any historically documented early civilization. These arguments have been revived in the context of recent discussions of heterarchical political organization and corporate power (Blanton et al. 1996; Crumley 1987 ...
... associated with any historically documented early civilization. These arguments have been revived in the context of recent discussions of heterarchical political organization and corporate power (Blanton et al. 1996; Crumley 1987 ...
Sida 41
... associated with evolutionary theory have been recognized as erroneous and abandoned. A teleological view of sociocultural evolution has been slowly but remorselessly discarded. Evolutionary specialists no longer claim that a specific ...
... associated with evolutionary theory have been recognized as erroneous and abandoned. A teleological view of sociocultural evolution has been slowly but remorselessly discarded. Evolutionary specialists no longer claim that a specific ...
Innehåll
3 | |
15 | |
40 | |
53 | |
66 | |
Kingship | 71 |
City and Territorial | 92 |
Urbanism | 120 |
Appropriation of Wealth | 375 |
Economic Constants and Variables | 395 |
Cognitive and Symbolic Aspects | 407 |
Conceptions of the Supernatural | 409 |
Cosmology and Cosmogony | 444 |
Cult | 472 |
Priests Festivals and the Politics of the Supernatural | 495 |
The Individual and the Universe | 522 |
Class Systems and Social Mobility | 142 |
Family Organization and Gender Roles | 167 |
Administration | 195 |
Law | 221 |
Military Organization | 240 |
Sociopolitical Constants and Variables | 264 |
Economy | 277 |
Food Production | 279 |
Land Ownership | 315 |
Trade and Craft Specialization | 338 |
Elite Art and Architecture | 541 |
Literacy and Specialized Knowledge | 584 |
Values and Personal Aspirations | 626 |
Cultural Constants and Variables | 638 |
Discussion | 651 |
Culture and Reason | 653 |
Conclusion | 684 |
References | 689 |
Index | 733 |
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Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study Bruce G. Trigger Begränsad förhandsgranskning - 2003 |
Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study Bruce G. Trigger Ingen förhandsgranskning - 2007 |
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agricultural ancestors ancient Egypt animals appear associated ayllu Aztec Bascom believed Benin calpolli central China Chinese city-state systems city-states Classic Maya commoners complex corvee corvee labour cosmic order craft workers crops cross-cultural cult cultural Cuzco dead deities divine early civilizations Early Dynastic earth ecological economic Egypt Egyptian elaborate elite extended families farmers full-time gods groups hereditary highland human behaviour important individuals Inka kilometres king kingship land large numbers leaders lineages living logograms major male Mesoamerica Mesopotamia Middle Kingdom military natural nobility nobles officials Old Kingdom Olorun Ometeotl organization palace period pochteca political population density Postgate priests produced realm region relations religious rituals role royal sacrifices Shang slaves social societies soldiers specific square kilometres status stone supernatural power symbolic taxes temples Tenochtitlan territorial Texcoco tions trade underworld upper classes urban centres Valley of Mexico wealth women Yoruba Zhou